Pirates of the Caribbean
Opens your browser's print window, where you can also save this guide as a PDF.
Overview
Pirates of the Caribbean is a classic indoor boat ride through a series of pirate-filled caves and Caribbean towns in Adventureland.
You begin by sailing through dark caverns before a short drop sends the boat deeper underground. From there, you pass a pirate ship firing on a coastal fort, wander through a town being thoroughly overrun by pirates and eventually encounter Captain Jack Sparrow amongst the chaos.
The boats travel slowly for most of the attraction, with one relatively short drop near the beginning rather than a large flume-style plunge.
There are no restraints.
Queue Details
The queue begins under cover before winding through the dark corridors and stone passageways of the Spanish fort.
Much of the queue is indoors and fairly dim, with narrow corridors, enclosed spaces and gradual slopes along the route.
ECV users are normally asked to transfer to a park-provided manual wheelchair before continuing through the queue.
Guests using personal wheelchairs may also be offered an attraction wheelchair. This is because the loading and unloading areas are in different parts of the building, making it more complicated for Cast Members to move a guest’s own wheelchair from one end of the attraction to the other.
If you need to remain in your own wheelchair because of positioning, support or equipment attached to it, tell a Cast Member at the entrance rather than assuming you must change chairs.
Wheelchair users are directed towards the loading side with more space around the boat, allowing the chair to be positioned closer for the transfer.
Transfer Info
Wheelchair and ECV users must transfer completely into the boat to ride.
There is no wheelchair-accessible Pirates boat.
The boat sits noticeably lower than the loading platform. Boarding involves moving over the side of the boat and lowering yourself into the bench seating.
There are effectively two changes in level: first moving across the side of the boat, then lowering again towards the seat and floor inside.
The bench can be used as an intermediate level during the transfer, allowing some guests to lower themselves in stages rather than making one large movement directly into the seating position.
A wheelchair can be positioned close to the boat at the accessible side of the loading platform.
If physical lifting or bodily assistance is needed during the transfer, that assistance needs to come from somebody in your own party rather than a Cast Member.
The boats use hard bench seating with backs and there is no restraint.
At the end of the attraction, leaving the boat involves the reverse movement: rising from the low bench and moving back across the side of the boat to platform level.
The normal exit route includes a steep inclined moving walkway that carries guests back towards ground level.
If you cannot safely use the moving walkway, an elevator is available at the unload area. Tell a Cast Member so you can be directed to it.
If you changed into an attraction wheelchair before entering, you can use another attraction wheelchair at unload to reach the elevator and return to the area where your own wheelchair or ECV was left.
Sensory Experience
What do these sensory tags mean?
- Darkness
- Substantial parts of the experience take place in darkness or very low light.
- Drops
- The ride includes noticeable downward drops.
- Flashing Lights
- Flashing, strobing or rapidly pulsing light effects are used.
- Water
- Guests may encounter splashes, sprays, mist or other water effects.
- Wind/Air Effects
- Deliberate blasts of air or wind effects can be felt by guests.
Sensory experiences vary between people. These tags describe elements that may be present, not how strongly any individual guest will experience them.
Pirates of the Caribbean spends most of its nine-minute journey in darkness or very low lighting.
The opening caves are particularly dark and quiet before the boat reaches the first major surprise: a short drop in darkness.
The drop is not comparable to a large flume ride, but it happens with limited visual warning and is followed by a noticeable splash and change in boat speed.
The attraction then becomes much louder and busier.
Cannons fire between the pirate ship and fort, with loud explosive sound effects, flashes of light and splashing water around the boat.
Later scenes include shouting pirates, gunfire, fire effects, music and a large number of moving Audio-Animatronic figures.
There are noticeable themed smells throughout parts of the attraction, particularly the damp cavern environment and the burning-town scenes.
The boat can bump gently against the channel or other boats, particularly if vehicles bunch together near the end of the ride.
You may receive light splashes, especially around the drop and cannon scenes, but this is not normally an attraction where guests become soaked.
The overall tone is theatrical rather than horror-based, but the darkness, skeletons, gunfire, fire and pirate imagery may still feel intense for some guests.
Practical Tips
The transfer into the low boat is the main physical consideration. If stepping down or lowering yourself into a deep vehicle is difficult, take a moment to look at the boarding setup before attempting the transfer.
Using the boat bench as an intermediate level can make the height change more manageable for some transfer methods.
If you need your own wheelchair with you through the queue because of specialised seating or equipment, explain this at the attraction entrance. Disney may otherwise suggest using one of its manual wheelchairs because of the distance between load and unload.
Remember that the challenge does not finish when the boat does: the standard exit includes a steep moving walkway. Ask for the elevator if that surface is not suitable for you.
If darkness or sudden drops are a concern, the first few minutes are the part to prepare for. Once you reach the pirate ship and town scenes, the attraction becomes brighter and more predictable.
There is a quieter area near the Pirates of the Caribbean restrooms if you need somewhere away from the busier Adventureland pathways before or after riding.
The pirates spend most of the voyage demonstrating an impressive inability to manage treasure, alcohol, livestock or basic town planning. Somehow, the song remains their biggest contribution to history.
Attraction Gallery
Spotted something we should update?
Theme parks change, and sometimes you’ll know something we don’t. If you’ve noticed something that’s changed, spotted something we’ve got wrong, or have useful information we should add, let us know.
Send us an update →